Kentucky Man Heading to Africa to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for St. Jude

Last week, Brandon Cox stood atop Mt. Bierstadt in Georgetown, Colorado. As you can see from the sign he's holding, that elevation is 14,066 feet. In a few months, he'll be leaving Owensboro (and the extensive training he's been undergoing) for a climb that's even higher. He's heading to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the highest single free-standing mountain in the entire world. It stands 19,341 feet above sea level.

Brandon is one of six climbers from the United States who are traveling to Tanzania to tackle Kilimanjaro. Each of them has committed to personally raise $12,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Brandon and the others are scheduled to land at Kilimanjaro International Airport on Saturday, October 12th.

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After a day of getting settled, organized and prepared, they'll head to Kilimanjaro National Park, where they will spend six days making the climb. That trek to the peak will take them through five different climate zones. Yes, it takes six days to climb up and two to make it back down.

Brandon is well on his way to raising the money he pledged to St. Jude. The first $6000 donation is due on July 1st, so he's making a big push this week to get there. Tonight, Texas Roadhouse is hosting a 10% Donation Night for him.

If you'd like to donate, you can do so by visiting Texas Roadhouse in Owensboro or by checking out the official website for his Mount Kilimanjaro climb.

As Brandon says, "Life is full of peaks and valleys. While we don’t always control where the valleys take us, we can absolutely choose the summits we chase."

In October, he's going to be chasing one of the biggest summits in the world to raise money for one of the most noble causes on the planet. And, remember. "Even when the climb is done, the fight to end childhood cancer continues."